BB-033 / Punishment
The Brazen Bull
The Act
According to ancient accounts, the tyrant Phalaris of Akragas used a hollow bronze bull in which victims were locked and a fire lit beneath, roasting them alive. The screams of the dying were said to resemble the bellowing of a bull.
The Response
The device is known primarily from classical literary sources. Phalaris himself was later overthrown. The Brazen Bull became a lasting emblem of tyrannical cruelty in Western literature and art.